Wine and other beverage producers commonly use rectangular wooden cases to store and transport bottles of wine. For example, a standard 12-bottle case generally measures 48 cm×41 cm×17 cm and, when empty, weighs approximately 2 kg. Generally, pins, nails, and/or screws hold such wooden cases together. Typically, these wooden cases use carved wooden slats that subdivide the interior of the case and receive the neck and bottom of each bottle to hold the bottles in place within the case. Additionally, Styrofoam or other insulating materials may be added to the interior of the wooden case to protect the bottles.
But these traditional wooden cases present many problems. The thick, wooden sides of the case, which give the cases their strength, add significant shipping weight. Further, the wooden cases can be time consuming to open as they require tools to wedge open the lid, which easily can be damaged when being pried apart from the body of the case. Additionally, once any outside wall of the wooden case is damaged, the structural stability of the box is diminished. Likewise, adding any insulation to the traditional wooden case only increases the weight of the already heavy structure. Finally, the conventional wooden case configuration presents the risk of individual bottles being removed without any evidence of tampering. Further, secure and tamper-proof cases do not exist for transporting and storing other valuable commodities such as, for example, jewelry or cigars.